I got a used MSI GX630 gaming laptop on eBay, and thought I'd run a few "quick" benchmarks.

Futuremark's 3DMark was my first thought for a synthetic benchmark, so I went to their site to download a trial version of 3DMark Vantage.

First obvious gripe: This is obviously a profit-driven software developer, the prices of their products are blasted everywhere. Why then, do they not serve their own files, and instead utilize over a dozen mirrors from servers that primarily host Free or Open Source software?

Next thing that I found stupid, I didn't see anything obvious about obtaining a registration key for the trial. Why the frak someone needs a registration key for a trial is beyond me, but w/e. After digging through support documents, entering my email address (I hate having to give out my address for a free product), and recieving the email with the registration key, I entered the key into the registration form and it told me it wasn't recognized.

Excuse me??? What the frak? I copied the key verbatim from the email, pasted it into the registration window, and it doesn't recognize it???

There was some mention of this problem in the support documents, and the solution they provided was to use the latest version, as this was a glitch they patched. I had the latest version, tried the patch and the patch said there was no reason, it was already latest version.

In the end I simply found a torrent, if they're going to make it this difficult to use their software legally, I'll simply use it illegally, as that's really the only option I have.

Anyway, the last time I used the trial was the 06' version. The latest version had a 5 sec timer IIRC and then you could start using it. It did prompt you for a key but you obviously didn't need one. Sucks they dropped the ball on trials.

Y'know, I have 3DM06 installed on my newest PC, installed it in the first day after I put Win7 on it n updated it n such, a fresh install ready to be pushed to it's knees. That was also the ONLY time I ever ran the app on it. It's a good app, but in all honesty, it really isn't anything to be fawned over any more, it's a limited-use program unless you're doing rigorous testing on a daily basis, like in a professional environment or you belong to a major modding, OCing or gaming community that relies a lot on the scores from it. I think I'm actually going to uninstall it, now that I remembered it was on there

I honestly find it funny that he mentioned using the torrented version as illegal, cuz a torrented file isn't necessarily illegal, especially if what you download is a free demo/trial anyway, same as if you get it from the developer. If you're going to use it the exact same way, literally, as the previously downloaded version, say a 1-time run and then uninstall, then I honestly don't see the difference. The only thing I remember the trial version not allowing is customizing the tests, but that's whatever anyway, as the default settings are the primary basis used in general consensus.

If they allow you to have full access for a trial period, then it's also whatever for those torrenting it, because they're getting the same thing by a different channel, but the same thing nonetheless. The only harm done whatsoever, is if the torrent is the full version, and is used to benchmark multiple machines, say commercially or otherwise, over an extended period (longer than the trial-period offering) of time, and without compensation made to the developer. Other than that, there's no harm, no foul.

Best I can tell, he just had to find a different channel to get the same result being offered, albeit unsuccessfully, to him by the developer.

Yeah, lol, I'm guessing he nabbed the full version too, since he said he'd get it the illegal method, but some people do automatically assume that a torrent is always illegal, but it's not. I've done that before, to get a trial version of an app, because the ones I needed to get weren't DLing from the host site for some reason, and 1 time I even kept getting a corrupted DL from the host site, so I did it for that one too. Oh well.

I've found myself going to ISOhunt quite a few times to get new and old distros of different Linux builds, for my friends n just to check stuff out for myself sometimes. It's a truly great way to distribute files, just some have to abuse it.

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